Exfoliation syndrome may be more common in women with pelvic organ prolapse

Women with pelvic organ prolapse were more likely to be diagnosed with exfoliation syndrome, according to a study using the Utah Population Database.

Researchers split the study into two substudies and performed a cross-sectional analysis in substudy A, which included 132,772 women who were enrolled in Utah Medicare from 1992 to 2009, to determine the association between exfoliation syndrome and pelvic organ prolapse. In substudy B, researchers estimated the risk of incident exfoliation syndrome in a cohort of 5,130 women between the ages of 30 and 65 years who had a diagnosis of pelvic organ prolapse compared with 15,338 control subjects who did not have pelvic organ prolapse.

In substudy A, women with pelvic organ prolapse were at a 1.56-fold increased risk for exfoliation syndrome.

In substudy B, during a 20-year follow up, researchers found a 48% increased risk of exfoliation syndrome in those who had a pelvic organ prolapse diagnosis compared with control subjects.

“Systemic conditions with altered [extracellular matrix] metabolism, such as pelvic organ prolapse, may share common biological pathways with exfoliation syndrome,” the study authors said. “We hypothesize that LOXL1 dysregulation, mediated by variants in the LOXL1 antisense gene, a proposed mechanism of disease in exfoliation syndrome, may be a common contributing factor.” – by Robert Linnehan

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

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Source:

Wirostko BM, et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2016.3411.